Laura J. Underwood

FANTASTIC FICTION

Welcome to my worlds.

Welcome!

Time to do a little front page clean-up again.

A few new things have been added. A few things have been removed. As for the books and stories no longer listed on the this page, just check out my bibliography page because they will be there.

So read, Enjoy. And as my editor Selina Rosen at Yard Dog Press is fond of saying...

Hey, writers have to make a living somehow. :-)

My books are available from Yard Dog Press, Edge Books, SRM Publishing, Sam's Dot Publishing, and Wolfsinger Publishing.

Of course, you can get them from the usual big booksellers online as well, but small press cannot survive without your help. So please buy my books from one of the links above first. Thank you!

STRIP MAULED edited by Esther Friesner from Baen Books is Now Available at all booksellers. You don't want to miss my story "That Time of the Month."

THE BOOKS OF TENTACLES is available from Sam's Dot Publishing, and includes my story "A Quiet Neighborhood."

Sam's Dot Publishing will also be using bits of my art in future projects, so stay tuned. And speaking of Sam's Dot, be sure to get a copy of my novella THE GREEN WOMEN from them. Support small press and small press authors!!!!

"Bella and the Flying Lugosi" is slated to appear in an unnamed vampire anthology, edited by the glorious Esther Friesner and forthcoming from Baen Books.

"Death and Need" has been selected to appear in MYSTIC SIGNALS later this year. Also forthcoming is "A Quiet Neighborhood" in THE BOOK OF TENTACLES. And my short story "Renalto" is coming out in print in ARCANE WHISPERS 2.

My novella The City Under The Bridge set in the world of the Harper Mage is now available from Wolfsinger Publications. You can purchase your copy through their online store on their Lulu webpage or by going to Amazon.com. If an electronic copy is your preference, the book is available as a MobiPocket download too.

Drooling Wizards is now online here on my website. The story first appeared in Helix: A Speculative Fiction Quarterly in January 2008. It's not a tale for the weak of stomach, however. Herein, you will find Expectorating Wizards and Village Idiots and a little town called Upper Drooling, and hopefuly a lot of laughs.

We have hit 84!!! So close, and still So Far!!!

Just 16 more and we're there.

And the good news--the publisher still wants to do it. But I need a list of 100 people willing to prepay $12.50 to the publisher in order to get Wandering Lark into print.

And remember, ONLY the first 100 will get the free novella THE DEMON OF MALLOW (which has been uploaded to Lulu, but is Not Available At This Time and Will Not Be Available before WANDERING LARK sees print). Everyone else will have to buy it.

So with only 16 slots to go, you'd better get cracking. Send me your name, address and email to keltora at sff dot net or keltora at yahoo dot com (remove "at" and "dot" to make it so...) to be added to the list.

And just so you know, I am trying to put together a list so I can mass mail all the wonderful patient fans out there who have signed on so far. Wandering Lark will see print thanks to all your efforts.

Laura J. Underwood

P.S. If you wish to share this letter with your friends and fellow readers, family members, librarians, anyone who might be interested, please do so. The more people willing to come into this up front, the better the chances this book will see print through a real publisher.

Ever want to try an author, but unsure you want to spend the money. Well, this gathering of the first three chapters of the novels and novellas of fantasy author Laura J. Underwood is for you. It's a free download that will allow you to sample her work and decide if you want to go on and buy her books. Included in the sampler is publishing information and "where to buy." And if you are so inclined, you can help the author by purchasing a print copy of this sampler. For under ten bucks, this is a lot of great stories that will have you asking, "And Then What Happened."

AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED is a collection of the first three chapters of the novels and novellas of author Laura J. Underwood. Included in this collection are a sampling of DRAGON'S TONGUE, THE HOUNDS OF ARDAGH, ARD MAGISTER, THE BLACK HUNTER, WILLOWHERB, THE KING'S WIND, THE LUNARI MASK and THE GREEN WOMEN.

Remember, the downloaded version is free.

Just follow this link...

And while you are there, look at http://www.lulu.com/keltora for more stories and novellas by Laura J. Underwood.

SRM now has copies of DRAGON'S TONGUE, Book 1 of "The Demon-Bound" available for sale on their online catalog. Please buy from them or order copies through independent booksellers instead of using Amazon. You'll be helping to support Victims of MM if you do. And the folks at SRM have loads of other stuff for sale.

Go to My Lulu Storefront and you will find a copy of SHADOW HART has been released in a reduced sized paperback. This is one of the tales of the ARD MAGISTER, and first appeared in Keltora, Land of Myth from Embiid back in 2001. It has been revised and updated for this brand new edition.

Long Winter is coming to the mountains, and Rhoyd and his family get stuck in a small village where an ancient battle between good and evil is fought every few years. Now Rhoyd finds himself the reluctant Champion of Light who must battle the evil Shadow Hart in order stop Long Winter and let spring return.

Still not sure you want to buy SHADOW HART? You can download it for FREE!!! This is my way of saying "Give it a test try."

The February Issue is now live and online. My funny fantasy "Renalto" is in this issue. Please donate generously to show your appreciation for this fine piece of funny stuff.

The Best of the Bubbas of the Apocalypse, edited by Selina Rosen and published by Ben Bella Books is now availble for preorder on Amazon.com. If you have never experienced the Bubba's Universe--and you really should--this collection brings together twenty authors from the four book and showcases some truly awesome fiction...and gives you the opportunity to taste the strange and wonderful shared world, where Bubbas rule and Yumbies (Young Upwardly Mobile Zombies) keep trying to take a bite outta old Ned or Joe Bob or his pretty wife Nadine... Yes, my story Candylight and the Three Bubbas is included... So go forth. Order copies now at this outrageously low price (yes, Amazon is selling them for under $11.00 if you preorder now). Get extras and store them away for Christmas. Heck, if worse comes to worse, store them away for the next apocalypse. You'll be glad you did. ;-)

THE LUNARI MASK is out! Just hop over to Yard Dog Press, go to This Link and buy yourself a heaping helping of a fantastical Double Dog Treat! My novella "The Lunari Mask" is paired with Melanie Fletcher's rousting swordplay adventure tale "Sabre Dance." That's DoubleDog #4. Needless to say, both authors are a'bouncing with glee! We have wonderful covers too.

Song of Silver is now available from Dark Regions Press. Matt Taggart did the cover art, and it is a signed, limited edition collection for Only $16.95! If you are a fan of the Harper Mage Anwyn Baldomyre and his saucy harp Glynnanis, then you will enjoy this collection. Nearly ALL the stories are new, including a novelette titled "Song of Snow" (illustrated on the cover). So go forth! Buy Many Copies! and Enjoy!

Oh, and before I forget, you'll find a sample story from the collection here.

BAD LANDS, a Holmes & Storm Mystery: the gonzo paranormal mystery novel by myself and Selina Rosen is available on Amazon.com now! It's already getting good reviews too, so don't miss out on this one. It's the funniest, wildest mystery novel you will ever read, and after all, who can resist a book that makes fun of reality shows?

A Free Story. Now and again, I want to put a story up on the webpage for readers. I will leave it for about a month, then remove it. Many of these stories were written at the beginning of my career. Some of them have sat around never being used. Others have been around the block and earned rejections.

So why am I putting them up? Because I can. ;-)

This month's story is The Last Jest.

This is one of my old fairytale type stories. In 10 years of marketing it, I could never find a home for it, so I have decided to let my fans view it.

ENJOY!

A while back I was asked to assist in a "sting" operation. There a certain publisher that tells new writers they are being traditionally published by a real publisher. Well I am here to tell you that this publisher lies about everything they say. You will not become popular or even respected if you let them have your book. Our sting involved the creation of a book that was so excruciatingly terribly written, no publisher would want it. But guess what. This publisher snapped it up and even offered a contract. At that point, Jim MacDonald let the world know that we had stung this publisher. Oddly, the publisher withdrew their offer once the sting went public, and now they are even trying to deny that we proved their unscrupulous practices. The book we submitted was ATLANTA NIGHTS by Travis Tea (slur the name) and you can actually purchase it from Lulu.com now. The sales generated from this book goes to assist the SFWA Emergency Medical Fund. Interested in more information about the sting. Head for the Sff.net and visit the scams newsgroup starting at this link. There you can see information on the sting, the acceptance, the withdrawal letter...and you can even read the book. But be warned. This book may burn you eyeballs out. Oh, and Just Say No to Publish America. You'll be glad you did...

And as an update, if you are interested in seeing what a PublishAmerica employee says about what a scam PA actually is, try this link

Copies of CHRONICLES OF THE LAST WAR are now available at Yard Dog Press. This is the book that tells how Conor and Eithne met, but it is also a tale of demon, darklings, Black Hunters and all sorts of baddies. There's fencing, there's fighting, and there's even a little true love. *g*

Oh, and if you want to sample David Deen's marvelous cover, click here

CONVENTIONS -- Where you Can See the Real Me

forthcoming

I have another website devoted to the Harper Mage, so check it out.  But here is where you are likely to find lists of my publications. (see below).

So look around. You'll find more stories listed on my biblio page and I am working on adding some other stuff as well.

This page is dedicated to the
Rowdy Lass
who left this world in November of 1998

GENERAL STUFF -- Statistics for the Curious

Who Am I? (My Biography in a Nutshell)

What Have I done? (My Bibliography)

How do I Do That? (My Philosophies on Writing)

FANTASTIC PLACES TO VISIT

Keltora, Land of Myth

Tales of the Harper Mage

Ard Magister

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE LINKS

I have promised I would do this, and I can't seem to get around to making a separate page so... The First Link is for Beliss. In case you are wondering who they are, they are my half sisters on the West Coast and boy are they wonderful (and beautiful) musicians. A warning, however, if you start drooling over their sultry pictures. Just remember. I'm their oldest sister, and I play with swords...

Debt is never fun, and I alway thought I could avoid it. Statistically a lot of Americans are in debt and are tired of being pestered by creditors and by collection agencies. I finally bit the bullet and sought help from the nice folk at American Liberty Financial. I know I sound like a commercial, but I am getting out of debt and on with my life, and these are the people who are helping me do it with dignity.

Selina Rosen and crew are a great bunch to work with. Selina is a great author as well as a kind and caring editor. So do me a favor, visit Yard Dog Press and Buy Our Books!

I don't know about you, but I am fascinated with this site. I think this and the NASA website are my two favorites. Mt. St. Helens is great to watch. And this is a good site for information about the volcano.

A brand new writer whose work you may wish to read is Madeline Howard. Her first novel, HIDDEN STARS is a wonderful fantasy set in a world of magic where forces of evil will keep you biting your nails wondering if they are going to win.

In recent years, I discovered Healing Touch. I have suffered for a long time from a damaged nerve in the back of my neck. The nerve was torn one day while picking up my little sister at the zoo so she could see the bears better. For years, I have sought assistance in dealing with the pain, and usually, heavy meds were needed when the nerve activated. But one day, a good friend told me that she practiced healing touch and asked me to let her try and see if she could stop my pain. It worked--so well that I now take regular sessions. So if you are curious about healing touch, visit the website of IN GOOD HANDS and see if Healing Touch can help you.

At long last, fellow writer Lisa Silverthorne has seen publication of her first book. This is a collection of Lisa's short fiction. The title is THE SOUND OF ANGELS and you can look at it by clicking on the link.

Lisa is a great writer, and I wish her well.

For now, if you have questions, you can e-mail me at "keltoraNOSTINKINGSPAMATsff.net." You will have to remove the middle message and add the the @ link yourself. Sorry, but I get too many crazy spams as it is.

You can also drop in at my newsgroup where I can be found from time to time, dispensing wisdom or just telling silly stories about the family cat Gato Bobo. (sff.people.keltora)

And be sure to visit my Harper Mage site at http://www.dm.net/~harpermage/

Enjoy.
Keep the torches burning... it makes the scarecrows REAL nervous!
 

MY STAND ON FANFIC

I know it's tempting to write in someone else's world, but it can cause copyright complications for an author as well. So please, no fanfic about Ard- Taebh or any of the characters I have created. Selfish as it may sound, I have to protect my copyright.

And remember, if you want to write fanfic about any author's work, you should ask permission FIRST. It's a matter of courtesy. And if the author turns you down, please be gracious enough to abide by the author's decision.

Besides, you should be writing your own stuff instead of writing other peoples stuff...

Thanks for listening.

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This Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Net Ring site is owned by Laura J. Underwood.

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